This was a very cute story that will definitely enchant middle grade readers. There are a lot of witch books coming out, and this will be sure to capture the imagination of many kids. The readers will root for Eva, who is very easy to relate to as an outsider trying to fit in. A great read for those who like Kiki's Delivery Service.

You will love this captivating main character about an apprentice witch whose struggles with insecurity, bullying, and self-doubt. She doesn’t have a lot of magic but does have strength, even if she needs a few reminders about it. She will be able to help her city even with semi-magical skills. A sweet, magical story.

I got all kinds of "Kiki's Delivery Service" vibes and I am here for it! This is another one that will be in the library and in my home for sure! It is so well written and I love the illustrations!

What a fun book! Eva Evergreen, the title character of Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch, has moxie! Young Eva, daughter to one of the few Grand Master witches in the Realm, has only a pinch of magic herself. Worse still, she falls asleep whenever her slight magic stores run out.

At the beginning of the book, Eva is hoping to go on her Novice Quest , the first level of competency for young witches. Her mission is to "do good." She boards a boat with a magical ticket that will tell her where to get off, but she falls asleep and the ticket burns up once they are past her destination. She gets off at the last stop, Auturi, a sea town at the edge of the Realm.

Her initial days in Auturi do not go well. She angers the town mayor and doesn't seem to have enough magic to do good-- in this case it means saving Auturi from the Culling. Eventually Eva finds her footing, but will it be enough to save Auturi and earn her her Novice certificate?

In general, I like the book very much and will definitely recommend it. I do not like how the weather related catastrophe is called the Culling. That word makes me think of slaughtering animals. It is very off-putting. It also seemed to taken quite a while for the real action to start. These are small complaints, though! All in all, Eva Evergreen was an enjoyable read.

I received an electronic ARC from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers through NetGalley.
Eva has struggled with her magic. She was almost too old when it first sparked and has never had full magical abilities. She does qualify to test and advance to the Novice Witch level by serving a town for a month. Plenty of adventure and misadventures happen as she tries to save the town from the next Culling.
The main themes of believing in yourself and pushing your boundaries come through clearly. Eva is a fully developed character as are the people she encounters along the way. She finds a home and friends in Auteri. She doe save the town and fix broken items and relationships though not in a conventional way. Eva puts her own stamp on life and grows more confident throughout the book.
Interesting though not surprising cliffhanger to set up the next book.

I can't wait to read the next book about Eva Evergreen and her friends. This story had just the right mixture of magic and reality and the characters were all very believable without going over the top with their badness or goodness.

This is a magical story reminiscent of Kiki's Delivery Service. Eva is the daughter of a famous, powerful witch but she only has a pinch of magic. For her novice year, she finds her way to a town in need. She finds a magical companion, which is probably my favorite part of the book. The side characters and setting are close seconds. I like the idea of this independent young woman finding her own brand of magic. I would suggest this book for middle grade readers of fantasy.

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Summary

Eva Evergreen is ready to set out on her novice quest. There is only one problem, her magic is exhausting. Eva has trouble performing any kind of magic without immediately falling into a deep slumber. Luckily her determination outweighs her exhaustion. Eva fights for her right to go on a novice quest even the whole council seems to be against her.

Eva inadvertently winds up in the town of Auteri where she immediately feels like she isn’t wanted. Although Eva does feel the weight of this on her shoulders, she continues to try and find a way to save the town from a large storm referred to as The Culling. Along the way Eva finds herself befriending orphans, pirates, and flamefoxes.

Thoughts

This was a bit of a slow starter for me, but I think this was more of a personal issue for me (I might have been reading five books at a time). It really picked up for me when Eva reached Auteri (This was probably when I told myself, Miranda, you should probably only read one book at time so you don’t get confused when you write your review). I basically played the whole book out as an anime movie in my head while I was reading. This was helpful because I was able to fill in details about setting that were necessarily fleshed out.

As I continued to read I really became attached to the people of Auteri. They all led such different lives, but Eva finds a way to connect with all of them. The book does end with a tasteful cliffhanger that provides closure while leaving readers ready for book two.

Fun, multicultural fantasy set in a vaguely-Japanese fantasy universe. Themes focus on friendship, belief in one's self, and acknowledging people's gifts/passions. At times both the text and the art work didn't match what I would expect of a 12 year old protagonist, but it seemed to work within the book's world. The work concludes with a clear lead in to an additional book or books. I know I will be excited to read the next novel in the series when it becomes available.

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch is an utterly enchanting book that immediately captivated me with its imaginative world and characters filled with heart. Eva sets off on a quest to become a novice witch, but her problem is she only has a bit of magic, has a hard time flying, and tends to faint when her magic is overtaxed. When she lands in a town in need of a powerful witch to protect it from the annual Culling, Eva must dig deep and be clever in addition to semi-magical, and draw upon her new friends to face the challenge.

Eva is desperate to prove her magic and become a witch. If she fails, they will remove all her magic...

Little Brown Books For Young Readers and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published on August 4th.

With her mother fighting for her, she gets a ticket on the boat and must go help a town. She boards the boat, but after a while of sitting and helping out a man on the boat heal his hand, she falls asleep. She wakes up at the last stop. She goes out to find the Mayor and check in. The Mayor is not happy with her. She wanted an older, more experienced witch. But she has to take what she gets.

She thinks she'll have a shop where she can help those who need it. It's just a lump of empty ground. Her friend gets her some cargo boxes she can use to set up her wares. But no one comes.

She goes across the street to buy some sweet goodies. She finds twin sisters fighting and tries to make them better but the shop reshapes, two stores become one and the two dessert goods mix. They are horrified but folks pour in and buy their goods.

She knows a storm is coming so she sneaks out and magics the buildings to keep them standing. But there are so many.

Then she comes up with another idea. Will she save the town and become a witch, or will she fail and lose her magic?

This book is about young Eva Evergreen, who has always just had a pinch of magic, rather than the river that seems to flow through her mother. To become an official Novice Witch and avoid losing the magic she so loves, she needs to go on a quest and officially Do Good for for a town, and along the way she'll learn that cleverness and hard work are just as important for success as innate skill.

This was a very light, fun read. Eva is a likable character with understandable, relatable self-doubts. The town she moves to has cool characters, the magic is fun, if never very deeply explained, and it ends in big, showy emergency where Eva gets to show her worth and the results of her hard work. I've seen people comparing it to Studio Ghibli films, based mostly off the obvious Kiki similarities, but I think it runs deeper than that, and it's not a bad thing.

It doesn't quite reach 5 stars for me. I never quite got a grasp on some of the characters, mainly Charlotte, even after I understood what was supposed to be motivating them. Also, while the magic was fun, it didn't feel fully fleshed out to me, which only really matters because of how important to the resolution of the book it actually ended up being. These aren't major flaws, and the intended audience may not even notice them, but it stops it from reaching that highest level for me.

Overall, though, a good book I don't have problems recommending for someone who wants a fun middle-grade fantasy about magic and making friends!

E ARC provided by Netgalley



Evalithimus Evergreen is eager to pass her novice quest, but her powers aren't strong and she is worried that she won't live up to her mother's expectations. Along with her companion, a flamefox named Ember, she ends up in the town of Auteri to prove herself, and she sets up a magical repair shop to hone her skills and find a way to help out the town. She meets Yuri, who has the Seafoam Sweets shop, Davy and his father, who are struggling after the disappearance of Davy's mother, and Charlotte, who lives at the local orphanage. There is a festival of lights coming up, and Eva has offered to help with that, but the real test will be if she can help the town when it is faced with the Culling, a storm that periodically affects the area. Eva manages to strengthen her powers bit by bit, learn new skills, and gain confidence, but will her powers be strong enough to save Auteri and for her to be recognized as a novice?
Strengths: Auteri is an interesting setting, and the touches of Japanese culture and the pastries and sweets are absolutely charming. Eva is a determined protagonist who tries hard to not only work on her powers, but to help those around her as well. The fact that her mother is the grandmaster makes this story even more compelling. This was a bit like Nichol's The Apprentice Witch, but with a more exotic setting and more compelling problem to be solved along with the magical one.
Weaknesses: I wanted more explanation about why her powers weren't strong; couldn't her mother have helped more?
What I really think: There is certainly a sequel to this, given the cliffhanger ending. Again, if I had readers I would buy this one, but I just don't.

Eva's mother may be one of the two most powerful magicians in the land, but Eva herself barely has enough magic in her blood to fill a thimble. Still, her power manifested in the nick of time for her to complete the traditional quest to become a licensed Novice Witch. All she has to do is spend a month in a town doing good deeds then fly home. Nearly everyone in Auteri (especially the mayor) is downright hostile, but Eva perseveres, fixing problems with a little cleverness and a pinch of magic. But Auteri is in more danger than she knows. Both the world and the characters are just adorable.

Eva Evergreen is on a journey to prove herself. She is known for being a subpar witch. Her magic manifested late, her spells tend to make messes out of situations, and she falls asleep after casting a spell. But she’s off on a quest to become a Novice Witch to a town that doesn’t know her reputation and desperately needs a witch to protect them from the Culling. Eva has to do good for the town or lose her magic forever.
Julie Abe does a beautiful job of setting the scene. The town of Auteri is fully developed. As the book progresses, the reader can almost map out the setting without having ever seen it. The relationships Abe creates are complicated and earned. The friendship between Eva and Charlotte in particular seems like it could happen to any girl. Though the stakes are high for Eva, this book flows smoothly and calmly. There are lots of misadventures, but it is never overwhelming for the reader. Eva herself is easy to root for and the reader will from almost the first page. Realizing that Eva is growing and becoming better is rewarding. I read this as an ebook and I haven’t seen the final product, but the length of it may intimidate some kids from trying. I’d recommend this to grades 4 and up and especially to kids that have an interest in fantasy.

Eva Evergreen was such a sweet and adventure filled book! If you enjoy My Neighbor Totoro or KiKi's Delivery Service, you will not be disappointed by this novel. Eva has the tough job of proving herself as a witch, making friends, figuring out who she wants to be, and that's all before the biggest storm in history is about to hit! This was a wonderful book that I hope becomes a series.

Whimsical and fun. A really enjoyable read.I especially enjoyed the lack of romantic situations the characters find themselves in. I also like the growth of the main character over the course of the novel. I do feel that the ending sort of just . . . starts but once I got over that I was whisked right back to Auteri.

When the synopsis for the book mentioned Kiki, who is one of my all-time favorite characters, I knew that I had to pick this up. This whole story is incredibly adorable. Eva shows great strength of character in pursuing her dreams of being a witch, even when she only has a pinch of magic. I felt happy the whole time I read this and am excited that it sets up the story for a series. Looking forward to reading more about Eva and Ember in the future.

An e-ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

EVA EVERGREEN is the story of this girl, EVA, who only has a pinch of magic. She departs from her town, to carry out a quest and become a novice witch. But even if Eva has the best intentions, she discovers that she’s not welcomed in the town she’s supposed to help and on top of that, the Culling (a magical storm) is coming and she has to do something about it.

Julie Abe wrote an enchanting and whimsical story. She has such a way with words it made me wish I could jump in the book and go on a novice quest myself. Reading this book and how Julie wrote it made you feel like you were living what Eva was going through. The author imagined such a wonderful world you almost wish it was real (or at least the food, I wish the food was real). EVA EVERGREEN is pitched as the perfect book for fans of Kiki’s Delivery Service and if I didn’t watch this movie (yet), I can tell you that the book has this subtle fantasy anime vibe that will made you love it if your into animes.

Eva was a great main character. She works hard and is such a great kid in general. What I particularly liked about the book is that the author didn’t choose to go with the “random power-up” route as in, she didn’t decide to have Eva suddenly have a lot of magical power. And it is such a great move when you think about it. To be perfectly honest, I got a little frustrated about that: I wished so hard that Eva’s power would become more than just a pinch because she kept messing up with her spells you know? I guess my frustration was coming from the fact that I knew Eva was so much more than the spell she couldn’t do and I wanted all the other characters who were doubting her to know too.

I said it was a great move from the author and I stand by it even if I felt some frustration here and there. I believe the message behind Julie Abe’s book is to make you understand that you don’t need to be powerful to be meaningful, you don’t have to be as great as the other witches to be one yourself. It is such a great message in a book targeting young readers because I hope it will make them understand that they can also be powerful even if they didn’t have the tools to be in the first place. In Eva’s case, she started with next to nothing. She had a pinch of magic but even with that, she had no guarantee when casting a spell. But she still believed, you know, she believed she could do as great as the witches with more magic than her, she believed because she has great idea and the will to do great.

Maybe I’m reading to much into it but I feel like it was what the author was going for when she wrote her book. It was a nice touch in a wonderful and magical setting.

I believe EVA EVERGREEN is the book you want to put in young readers’ hands, when you want them to read a enchanting story about a witch going on her quest to prove she’s as much of a with than the others. You’ll spend a great time with Eva and her flamefox Ember and wish you could be there too.

(Also: I need the sequel right now).

Find my review on my blog: https://delphreads.wordpress.com/2020/01/11/review-eva-evergreen-semi-magical-witch-by-julie-abe/
Find my review on goodread: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2995478180